Topic outline

  • About the Course

    Course Content: Basic concepts and methods in database systems. Relational databases: relational algebra, UML-design, Basic concepts and methods in database systems, normalization and SQL.

    Learning Goals: After the course you understand the role of conceptual modeling in managing data, and know the commonly used database modeling and querying languages. You can design simple databases and write queries.

    Study Material: 

    Jeffrey D. Ullman and Jennifer Widom. A First Course in Database Systems, Third Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2014. 

    Aalto University Library has an e-book, using the Proquest platform, which can be read by at most 10 students simultaneously. The textbook is required reading and we plan to follow the book chapters each week, so please read the sections assigned in advance. To access it choose Aalto University as the institution via "Shibboleth login".

    Online Learning Sessions: During the summer of 2020 the course will be offered online using a blended mix of video-based interactive learning sessions held using Zoom once a week Thursdays 10:15 - 11:45, with additional discussions on Slack throughout the week. Most videos of pre-recorded learning sessions will be made available each week on Wednesday afternoon, while others will be held live on Thursdays.

    Students are encouraged to attend the Thursday online sessions, however these will also be recorded and made available to students who cannot attend them thereafter.

    There is also a Piazza net forum which you can use to send any questions about the course and also to find a group for the project. Enroll in the forum by using your Aalto e-mail.

    Projects and Assignments for Grading:
    • Two-part mandatory group project (Deadline for part 1: August 7, 2020; Deadline for part 2: August 28, 2020).
    • Mandatory Exam held on September 3, 2020, 09:00-12:00.
    • In addition there are five rounds of voluntary assignments (opening in stages June 4-June 18, with corresponding deadlines August 4-August 12), completion of which provides bonus points when doing the exam.

    While this course is being run in conjunction with the Finnish-language version of CS-A1153, it will have it's own weekly lecture sessions but use the same projects and assignments.

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Weekly Schedule